Mobile chair base having locking means

ABSTRACT

The base of the rockable lounger chair has rubber tired wheels at the front end and casters at the rear end. Lever means is employed which is operated by the handle which extends and retracts the leg rest to raise spring pressed plungers from the tires of the front wheels. This permits the chair to be moved to another location only when the leg rest is extended and the chair is locked against rocking movement. When the handle is retracted partially or fully, the position of the leg rest is adjusted or retracted and the front wheels of the chair are locked,retaining the chair in fixed position. In this position the chair will not roll when an occupant is getting in or out of the chair. This is of special advantage when the chair is used in the Health Care Field.

United States Patent [191 Shoemaker et al.

[111 3,848,924 1 Nov. 19, 1974 MOBILE CHAIR BASE HAVING LOCKING MEANS [75] Inventors: Edwin J. Shoemaker; Edwin G. Gensler; David B. White, all of Monroe, Mich.

[73] Assignee: La-Z-Boy Chair Company, Monroe,

[22] Filed: Sept. 20, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 399,081

[52] US. Cl. 297/434, 188/2 F, 297/217, 297/261, 297/271 [51] Int. Cl. A47c 7/50 58 Field of Search 297/217, 269, 270, DIG. 4, 29 143. 2 @LZZL 437; 1788 2 19,

3,096,121 7/1963 Knabusch et al. 297/269 Primary Examiner-James C. Mitchell Attorney, Agent, or Firm-1-larness, Dickey & Pierce [57] ABSTRACT The base of the rockable lounger chair has rubber tired wheels at the front end and casters at the rear end. Lever means is employed which is operated by the handle which extends and retracts the leg rest to raise spring pressed plungers from the tires of the front wheels. This permits the chair to be moved to another location only when the leg rest is extended and the chair is locked against rocking movement. When the handle is retracted partially or fully, the position of the leg rest is adjusted or retracted and the front wheels of the chair are locked,retaining the chair in fixed position. In this position the chair will not roll when an occupant is getting in or out of the chair. This is of special advantage when the chair is used in the Health Care Field.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures MOBILE CHAIR BASE HAVING LOCKING MEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Wheel chairs are usually provided in hospitals, nursing homes and for disabled persons to provide mobility for the occupant without providing the comfort of a lounge chair which has a degree of mobility when using the base of the present invention.

RELATED APPLICATION Reference may be had to the copending application of E. J. Shoemaker et al., Ser. No. 323,137, filed June 12, 1973 for Lounge Chair Having Mobile Base now US. Pat. No. 3,801,122 which was assigned to the assignee of the present invention and over which the present base is believed patentable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to a base for a reclining platform rocking chair, similar to that illustrated in the patent to Knabusch et al., No. 3,096,121, which provides mobility thereto. The base is provided with rubber tired wheels at the front end which contact the floor and with casters at the rear end. Spring pressed plungers engage the tires on the front wheels for the purpose of locking the wheels against rotation when the leg rest of the chair is retracted. When the handle at the side of the chair is operated to extend the leg rest, the plungers are retracted near the end of the leg rest extended movement releasing the front wheels and permitting the chair to be moved to another location. The chair will again be retained against movement when the leg rest is partially or fully retracted which releases the plungers so that they can again be urged against the tires of the wheels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a lounging chair mounted for rocking movement on the base of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a broken plan view of the base, the rocker parts and footrest structure of the chair illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation of the base and locking system therefor illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the front end portion of the structure illustrated in FIG. 3, taken on the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 4, taken on the line 5-5 thereof, and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged broken view of the front end portion of the structure illustrated in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The chair 11, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is rockable upon a base 12 which embodies features of the present invention. The chair 11 has a leg rest 13 which is operated by a handle 14 to extended and retracted positions. A rockable chair frame has side frame elements l5 interconnected by cross members 16 and 17 at the rear and front ends, respectively. The side frame elements of the chair frame 10 have the convex arcuate bottom surfaces of the rocking members 18 resting upon the planar top section 19 of the base 12. The rocking members 18 are connected to the side frame elements 15 and to the base 12 by spring units 22 of conventional construction.

The springs of the units 22 have the top turns secured in slots in metal brackets 24 which are attached to the inner face of the rocker member 18 by a plurality of screws 25, as illustrated in FIG. 5. The bottom turns of the springs are secured in slots in metal brackets 26 which are secured to a bottom section 27 of the base side frame elements 20 of the base 12 by a plurality of screws 28. The endmost turns of the spring are retained within the slots of the brackets 24 and 26 by struck-out tabs 29 which are bent thereover in the conventional manner. At the front of the base frame elements 20 rubber tired wheels 31 are mounted within inverted U- shaped brackets 32 the lower end of the inner arm of which is securely welded to the end of a square cross member 33. A bolt 34 extends through the arms of the U-shaped brackets 32 and through the wheels 31 on which they are mounted for rotation. Each side frame member 20 is a casting preferably made of white metal, having an outer face and inwardly extending top and bottom flanges to which the cross members are secured in fixed relationship.

An inwardly extending square boss 37 is molded out- I wardly of the inner face of the base frame members 20 over which the ends of a hollow square tubular cross,

member 38 extend. The ends are secured in fixed relation to the bosses 37 by bolts 39 extending therethrough. The outer side 41 of the U-shaped bracket 32 is secured against a recessed wall in the solid downwardly extending end 42 of the side frame member 20 by a screw 43. The screw 43 which extends through the outer arm of the bracket 32 is threaded into a threaded aperture 44 in the solid downwardly extending end 42 of the frame member 20. The opposite end of the frame member 20 slopes downwardly at 45 and upwardly and outwardly at 46- having an outer end section 47 in which the stem of a caster 48 is secured.

The bracket 32, as illustrated more specifically in FIG. 6, has a plate 51 secured across the arms thereof and provided with an aperture 52 through which a rod 53 extends and also through an aperture 55 through the web end portion 54 thereof. The rod has a square head 56 on the bottom end containing serrations 57 which engage a rubber tire 58 of the wheel 31. A spring 59 abuts the web end portion 54 when compressed thereagainst by a roll pin 61 to urge the head 56 downwardly against the tire 58 to prevent the wheel 31 from rotating. The rod 53 has a washer 62 extending thereover engaged by a cam end 63 of a link 64 which is Ushaped in cross section. The link has spaced sides thereof disposed on opposite sides of the upper end of the rod 53 and secured thereto by a roll pin 65.

The opposite end of the link 64 is secured to a link 66 by a pivot pin rod 53 which pulls the pin 67 to the left when the link 66 is moved to the left. With the cam end 63 resting on the washer 62, the pin 65 and rod 53 are moved outwardly to move the head 56 from engagement with the tire 58. The'link 66 is secured to the end of an arm 68 by a pivot pin 69 with the opposite end of the arm 68 bent inwardly and reversely bent into U-shape and provided with aligned square holes 71 through the walls opposite of the U-shaped end. The arms 68 are secured to the ends of a square rod 72 and secured thereto by screws 73. The square tube 38 has a pair of upstanding arms 74 welded thereto through which the rod 72 is supported in circular flanged sleeves 75 contained in upper cylindrical apertures which permits the rod and sleeves to rotate therein.

An arm 76, similar to the arm 68, having a U-shaped end 70 with aligned square holes through the opposite walls thereof, is secured on the rod 72 by a screw 73 providing an operating arm for rotating the rod. The arm 76 has its extending end engaged by a pivot pin 77 which extends through a slot 78 at the end of a link 79. A link 81 is secured at one end over a pin 82 of a ratchet operating arm 83 and at the other end is secured to the link 79 by a screw 84 which is threaded intoone of a plurality of apertures 85 which provides adjustment in length to the link 79. The pin 77 will engage the end of the slot 78 near the end of the swinging movement of the arm 83 to release the heads 56 from the tires 58. The arm 83 is secured to a square rod 86 which is operated by a handle 14 on the outer righthand side of the chair.

The leg rest 13 is mounted on scissors type linkage 87 for supporting the leg rest 13 forwardly of the chair when the handle 14 is rotated upwardly and to the rear. Near the end of the leg rest extension, the arm 76 is moved counterclockwise to move the arm 68 and link 66 to the left, as viewed in FIG. 6, moving the link 64 counterclockwise to thereby move the pins 65 outwardly for moving the rods 53 and heads 56 away from the tires 58. A holding and trip mechanism 88 locks the leg rest in extended position and permits the retraction thereof when the handle 14 is reversed. The square cross member 33 has a pair of spaced posts 91 secured thereto by screws 92. A shaft 93 is supported in aligned apertures in the two posts for pivotally supporting the ratchet engaging arm 94 in position to have its end 97 engage one of a plurality of teeth 95 for locking the chair against forward rocking movement when the leg rest is extended. When moving the operating handle 14 to retract the leg rest 13, a wire loop 96 connected to the arm 94 releases the end 97 thereof from the engaged teeth 95 and permits the chair to again rock in the normal manner while locking the front wheels against movement. This, and other novel features of the chair, can be studied in detail in E. M. Knabusch et al., Pat. No. 3,096,12l above mentioned which discloses the same chair as that of the present invention except for the mobile base.

We claim:

1. In a base for a chair, a base frame having side elements with at least one cross bar therebetween, a wheel mounted at the forward end of each side element, a caster mounted at each rear end of said side elements, a spring pressed locking member at the front ends of the side elements which are urged by the springs into engagement with the Wheels, a leg rest mounted at the forward end of the chair, link means on the sides of the chair for supporting and moving the leg rest to extended and retracted positions, and means operated when the link means moves said leg rest from retracted position for releasing said locking means.

2. In a base for a chair as recited in claim 1, wherein each said wheel is mounted on a shaft through an inverted U-shaped bracket, said locking member embodying a rod extending through an aperture in the end web of the bracket, a spring within the bracket about said rod for urging the rod axially, and a lever pivoted to the extending end of said rod for moving the opposite end of the rod away from said wheel when the lever is actuated.

3. In a base for a chair as recited in claim 2, wherein one end of said lever engages said web, an operating means for the other end of the lever which moves said rod axially and the engaged end thereof away from said wheel.

4. In a base for a chair as recited in claim 1, wherein each side member of the base has an inwardly extending boss, and a tubular cross member having its ends extending over said bosses and secured thereto.

5. In a base for a chair as recited in claim 4, wherein said tube has upstanding arms, a square rod rotatably supported by said additional arms fixed to said rod having the free end pivoted to said operating means.

6. In a base for a chair as recited in claim 4, wherein a rotatable rod in said leg rest mechanism is rotated by said handle, an actuating arm fixed onto said rod, and a link connecting the actuating arm to an arm on said first square rod for operating the levers which move the rods to release the wheels when the handle has been moved toleg rest extended position.

7. A rollable base for a chair, a base having rolling means thereon, means for locking said base against rolling movement, a leg rest, means for moving said leg rest from retracted position to extended position, and means actuated by said leg rest moving means for permitting said chair to be rolled when the leg rest is moved from retracted position.

l =k =l= 

1. In a base for a chair, a base frame having side elements with at least one cross bar therebetween, a wheel mounted at the forward end of each side element, a caster mounted at each rear end of said side elements, a spring pressed locking member at the front ends of the side elements which are urged by the springs into engagement with the wheels, a leg rest mounted at the forward end of the chair, link means on the sides of the chair for supporting and moving the leg rest to extended and retracted positions, and means operated when the link means moves said leg rest from retracted position for releasing said locking means.
 2. In a base for a chair as recited in claim 1, wherein each said wheel is mounted on a shaft through an inverted U-shaped bracket, said locking member embodying a rod extending through an aperture in the end web of the bracket, a spring within the bracket about said rod for urging the rod axially, and a lever pivoted to the extending end of said rod for moving the opposite end of the rod away from said wheel when the lever is actuated.
 3. In a base for a chair as recited in claim 2, wherein one end of said lever engages said web, an operating means for the other end of the lever which moves said rod axially and the engaged end thereof away from said wheel.
 4. In a base for a chair as recited in claim 1, wherein each side member of the base has an inwardly extending boss, and a tubular cross member having its ends extending over said bosses and secured thereto.
 5. In a base for a chair as recited in claim 4, wherein said tube has upstanding arms, a square rod rotatably supported by said additional arms fixed to said rod having the free end pivoted to said operating means.
 6. In a base for a chair as recited in claim 4, wherein a rotatable rod in said leg rest mechanism is rotated by said handle, an actuating arm fixed onto said rod, and a link connecting the actuating arm to an arm on said first square rod for operating the levers which move the rods to release the wheels when the handle has been moved to leg rest extended position.
 7. A rollable base for a chair, a base having rolling means thereon, means for locking said base against rolling movement, a leg rest, means for moving said leg rest from retracted position to extended position, and means actuated by said leg rest moving means for permitting said chair to be rolled when the leg rest is moved from retracted position. 